Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/950,198

METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING SPATIAL-TEMPORAL LOAD DISTRIBUTION OF BRIDGE GROUP BASED ON MULTI-SOURCE DATA FUSION

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Nov 18, 2024
Examiner
RICH, JOSEPHINE ELIZABETH
Art Unit
3666
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Shenzhen Urban Transport Planning Center Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
86%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 11m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 86% — above average
86%
Career Allow Rate
12 granted / 14 resolved
+33.7% vs TC avg
Strong +25% interview lift
Without
With
+25.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
28 currently pending
Career history
42
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
18.4%
-21.6% vs TC avg
§103
47.2%
+7.2% vs TC avg
§102
19.8%
-20.2% vs TC avg
§112
14.6%
-25.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 14 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Priority Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed of CN Application No. 202311799793.3, filed on 12/26/2023. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/18/2024 is being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 1 S42 recites the limitation "the matching priority". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 1 S44 recites “according to constraint condition 1 and constraint condition 2” and this limitation is unclear and thus indefinite. Are conditions 1 and 2 the same or different? What are they constraining? As currently presented, claim 1 fails to clearly recite the metes and bounds of the claimed subject matter, thus the claim is indefinite. Claim 1 S31 recites “vehicle load passing through the two points”. Is these two new points with antecedent issues or is this referring back to the start point vehicle load detection point and the end point vehicle load detection point? Is it referring to the overload control points, the source overload control detection point, the high-speed wight toll detection point or the bridge dynamic weighting detection point found in S11? Claim 1 S11 and S33, claim 2, claim 3, and claim 6 recite “i.e.,”. The use of “i.e.” renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. Additionally, dependent claims 4-5 and 7 are rejected as being dependent on the previously rejected base claims and for failing to cure the deficiencies listed above. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1-7 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ye et al. (US PGPub 2021/0381911) in paragraph 00010 discloses a method for identifying spatial-temporal distribution of vehicle loads on a bridge based on a densely connected convolutional network by mounting a plurality of cameras in different positions of a bridge. However, Ye et al. does not disclose using vehicle positioning data and GIS topological network section information to form vehicle trajectory data (S1-S14). Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPHINE RICH whose telephone number is (571)272-6384. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Scott Browne can be reached at (571) 270-0151. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /J.E.R./Examiner, Art Unit 3666 /SCOTT A BROWNE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3666
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Prosecution Timeline

Nov 18, 2024
Application Filed
Mar 19, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
86%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+25.0%)
2y 11m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 14 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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